Grown women with little girl voices.

Is there anything creepier? There's this one mid-30s chick in my office with one of those baby doll voices. It's like nails on a chalkboard when she opens her mouth. Absolutely cringeworthy. I know I'm not the only person in the office who feels this way. What causes something like this?

by Anonymous

reply 92

04/02/2015

Some have linked it to maturity shutting down at an early age. I can't stand Melanie Griffiths voice and laugh my ass off every time I watch Working Girl. Her breathy little baby voice talking about Trask Industries and business acquisitions is just not convincing.

by Anonymous

reply 1

02/21/2013

[quote] Is there anything creepier?

Yes-- grown MEN with little girl voices.

by Anonymous

reply 2

02/21/2013

There is one in my office with a tiny baby voice. Drives me nuts when she pages.... "Dan please call Melissa and one-seven- fiiiiiveeee" (the five been said with three baby syllables).

by Anonymous

reply 3

02/21/2013

Three words: Joey Lauren Adams

by Anonymous

reply 4

02/21/2013

[quote]I can't stand Melanie Griffiths voice and laugh my ass off every time I watch Working Girl.

It was her constant throat-clearing that drove me up the wall.

by Anonymous

reply 5

02/21/2013

I have no idea what in the hell you're talking about, OP.

by Anonymous

reply 6

02/21/2013

That was from doing coke onset R5.

by Anonymous

reply 7

02/21/2013

Most of the women reporters on NPR (especially on local affiliated stations) have little girl voices. They are really annoying.

by Anonymous

reply 8

02/21/2013

Another reason to despise Victoria Jackson.

by Anonymous

reply 9

02/21/2013

Kristen Chenoweth is talented and all that, but her speaking voice is the very epitome of little-girl annoying awfulness. Why can't they talk like women? It sounds so much better.

Just listen almost any British female, they sound mature and much more attractive

by Anonymous

reply 10

02/21/2013

You are on to something R10, can you imagine any of these aformentioned ladies speaking French?!

by Anonymous

reply 11

02/21/2013

I DID IN MY LITTLE GIRL VOICE!!!!

by Anonymous

reply 12

02/21/2013

Chenoweth spoke French phrases in YOU AGAIN.

by Anonymous

reply 13

02/21/2013

I am one of those grown women with a little girl voice and even I despise it. I can promise you that its not something I do on purpose. Its just what my voice is.I believe it has held me back in my career and means I am just not taken seriously in my opinions, even though I am a phi beta kappa MS from a prestigious university. Celebrities with a voice like mine would have speech therapists and acting coaches , but I have no access to or money for resources like that. I usually try not to talk much in public settings, just with family and close friends.

On the upside, dogs and babies just LOVE me!

by Anonymous

reply 14

02/21/2013

Perhaps you should take up smoking, r14.

by Anonymous

reply 15

02/21/2013

r14, try those exercises that start with drone humming, really low in your throat, and exhale while you produce that sound--doesn't have to be loud, just consistent. You'll build up strength. See if that doesn't help.

Also, speak on the exhalation instead of after holding your breath, if you happen to be doing that.

My cousin had a baby voice, hated it, wanted to sound like Brenda Vaccaro, and short of taking up smoking, as somebody suggested, she just works on it. And whatever the cost, a few initial lessons to give you some exercises to do are worth it. My cousin said what creeped her out was when a woman asked her point-blank if she'd been molested. Just casually, in conversation. Because women who had been molested often have baby voices. Sounds like a sweeping generalization to me, but I'd want to have a more commanding voice in a lower register.

by Anonymous

reply 16

02/21/2013

I only hate the baby-stripper voice when it's an affectation. You can tell when her voice is honestly like that and when she's seeking attention or male approval.

by Anonymous

reply 17

02/21/2013

Try weight training for LGV. The grunting I do on the last few reps has lowered my medium baritone close to bass. Vocal chord damage can be good!

by Anonymous

reply 18

02/21/2013

r18, that's what Rock Hudson supposedly used to do. His voice was rather high when he first came in Hollywood. He used to go town to the beach and just scream in order to force his voice to a lower register.

by Anonymous

reply 19

02/21/2013

I have a lesbian friend that does this. She goes in and out with the voice. It drives me crazy.

by Anonymous

reply 20

02/21/2013

Edie McClurg is the exception. I love her.

by Anonymous

reply 21

02/21/2013

r14 here. Thanks for the advice 16. I'll give it a try, maybe I can find a site or a youtube with instructions. 15, word is that Britney Spears took up smoking for just this reason.

by Anonymous

reply 22

02/21/2013

Is there any truth to the theory that many women with young childlike voices are likely to have had some trauma at an early age?

by Anonymous

reply 23

02/21/2013

R19, you are confusing Rock Hudson with Lauren Bacall. But don't be embarrassed; so many people have done that over the years. And over the telephone, both of them were indistinguishable from Blossom Dearie.

by Anonymous

reply 24

02/21/2013

Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis owned this thread.

Her voice never matched her shoe size.

by Anonymous

reply 25

02/21/2013

Ooooooo, Wobewt!

by Anonymous

reply 26

02/21/2013

"Theeents, buh-bye"

by Anonymous

reply 27

02/21/2013

Like Paris or Kim K, R17?

by Anonymous

reply 28

02/21/2013

Khloe Kardashian frequently puts on a baby doll voice which is nauseating.

by Anonymous

reply 29

02/21/2013

Mt sister who is a stripper uses that voice all the time, Especialy when she wants somthing. One of the most anoying sounds. It woudn't be so bad but I kow she knows how to speak correctly. Evrytime she is at the house wanting something from my dad ($) that voice shows up. When she comes to talk to me or my mom her voice is normal.

by Anonymous

reply 30

02/21/2013

R30 she talks to your dad in a stripper voice? :-/

by Anonymous

reply 31

02/21/2013

Khloe's baby voice is the worst. Ugh!

by Anonymous

reply 32

02/21/2013

I never heard her speak, but Blossom Dearie had a child's singing voice.

by Anonymous

reply 34

02/21/2013

It is rare to find a straight girl who sounds sexy anymore. I wonder when they all collectively started imitating Mary Kate Olsen.

What's REALLY creepy, like horror movie creepy, is when an old woman puts on a baby voice. I have a couple relatives that do it. They get all flirty, giggly and shy acting when they're around certain alpha males {{{shudder}}}. It makes me want to slap them and say, "bitch please, you haven't been a blushing virgin since the Eisenhower administration."

by Anonymous

reply 36

02/21/2013

Fuck off, OP!

by Anonymous

reply 37

02/21/2013

I started a new job year ago and I kept hearing this little girl's voice. I finally saw this haggard, Margaret Hamilton looking lady and the voice was coming out of her. I think she saw her voice as her only asset.

by Anonymous

reply 39

02/21/2013

Beats me, OP.

by Anonymous

reply 41

02/21/2013

Georgia Engle has made a career with a little girl voice.

by Anonymous

reply 42

02/21/2013

Some of us women don't like listening to little girl voices or vocal fry, either. I want to tear my hair out.

I'm watching the bachelor for Sean, but some of the women I have to mute: Sarah and Ashlee.

Sarah:

by Anonymous

reply 43

02/21/2013

While, this thread has certainly taken a sexist turn with R33's post, hasn't it?

As if some groups of men don't have annoying traits. Sheesh.

And I really hope that R38 was trolling. Yes, it's SO unfair to have been born the more privileged gender.

by Anonymous

reply 44

02/21/2013

AshLee:

by Anonymous

reply 45

02/21/2013

r44, obviously they are not talking about ALL women, but a large proportion of younger girls ARE speaking in annoying tones now.

We've discussed annoying men and the "bro culture" that has arisen AT GREAT LENGTH here, so don't act like women are being singularly called out.

by Anonymous

reply 46

02/21/2013

Jennifer Tilly

by Anonymous

reply 50

02/21/2013

Madonna's little girl voice is truly repulsive.

by Anonymous

reply 51

02/21/2013

Thank you R46. It's about time someone spoke up.

by Anonymous

reply 53

02/21/2013

Yes R31, she talks to my dad in that little girl stripper voice. And he falls for it every time. It's beyond creepy.

She uses that voice any time she wants something from any man

by Anonymous

reply 54

02/21/2013

I don't think misogyny has anything to do with it.It seems that gay men with high voices envy women and want to be like them,and I was just going to mention Georgia Engel.I like high voices on women sometimes.I think it cna be sexy and cute,but Georgia Engel is too babyish and cloying.She'd made a wonderful good witch on Passions.Who else but her,really,but no sex appeal,except when she was really young.Also,Jean Stapelton's high voice on All In Teh Family was funny.No,Maureen is not her sister.Stapelton is actually Jean's mother's maiden name.

by Anonymous

reply 55

02/21/2013

Boop-boop-a-doop!

by Anonymous

reply 56

02/21/2013

Back when I would listen to Loveline, whenever a woman with a little girl voice called in Dr. Drew would ask them if they were molested growing up. The answer was almost always yes.

by Anonymous

reply 57

02/21/2013

Fantasia Barrino makes me LOL. She has a raspy baby voice. Have you ever heard a baby with a raspy voice? Add in the ebonics and it is a hilarious mixture.

by Anonymous

reply 58

02/22/2013

Don't discount the mommy factor here. My oldest cousin's wife is about 10 years older than me and sometimes stayed with me when my parents were out of town during my high school years.

She has a naturally very young sounding voice which was always pretty humorous when she'd call me in as sick so we could do something fun.

I actually like her a lot and we've always been close. But when she had her own son she fell into the sing songy mommy voice on top of baby voice with everyone. Her son is also my godson BTW and he's is still a mama's boy in his 30s.

The MTM show's Georia Engle/Georgette character is actually a great example of this because she was always mothering her man child as "Teddy Bear."

by Anonymous

reply 59

02/22/2013

We love you, R14.

by Anonymous

reply 60

02/22/2013

R33 is correct.

by Anonymous

reply 61

02/23/2013

It can work occasionally for comedic actresses like Jennifer Tilly.

by Anonymous

reply 62

02/23/2013

[quote]Just listen to almost any British female, they sound mature and much more attractive

One big exception to this is the tediously 'controversial' UK hack Julie Burchill. She recently did a long radio interview; listeners who'd never heard her before were startled at the helium-ingestion voice, complete with upward inflection.

Burchill has a fuller figure, and is in her early fifties. She admits that there's something important missing in her character, but doesn't care anyway.

by Anonymous

reply 63

02/23/2013

Are we over the ending every sentence as if it is a question fad?

by Anonymous

reply 64

02/23/2013

Beyonce owns this thread

by Anonymous

reply 65

02/23/2013

Beyonce really isn't that bad. Her voice might be affected, but it doesn't sound like baby-stripper. Paris Hilton and KK are the exemplars here.

by Anonymous

reply 67

02/23/2013

My brother's now-thankfully-EX-fiancee always did this, but only when talking to him.

Her natural voice is about a medium-deepness [not ridiculously deep, but definitely not high, either] but every single time she spoke to him, she'd raise it up into little girl tones.

It was really disgusting, especially since she was ostensibly a mature, intelligent woman who shouldn't need to lessen herself for a man.

by Anonymous

reply 68

02/23/2013

R66 is a grown man who talks like a little boy. I wonder what his damage is.

by Anonymous

reply 69

02/23/2013

There isn't much (if anything) a grown women won't do if she thinks a man will like it. This is still true in 2013! I simply can't repect women. I can understand idolizing a man but it's just ridiculous the lengths women go to. Get a life already.

by Anonymous

reply 70

02/23/2013

I agree, it's creepy.

I always feel disturbed by it, particularly because I remember reading some psychology reports saying it's linked to child sexual abuse (i.e. the woman was abused, and freezes her voice at that infantile stage).

by Anonymous

reply 71

02/23/2013

The incomparable Blossom Dearie.

by Anonymous

reply 72

02/23/2013

R40: In The Way We Live Now, Shirley Henderson (Marie Melmotte) affected a more childlike voice than she actually has, as she was a 36-year-old woman playing an 18-year-old character. Her natural voice is quite light and high, but definitely not freakish for a very slight woman who barely over 5 feet tall.

And she was damned brilliant in that series.

by Anonymous

reply 73

02/23/2013

Grown women with little girl voices aren't nearly as bad as grown men with a teenage girl's vocabulary. I'd much rather listen to Joey Lauren Adams than listen to a bunch of gay guys in their 30s and 40s talk like valley girls.

by Anonymous

reply 74

02/23/2013

Veering off topic for a sec ... Georgia Engel has been mentioned a couple of times. Last night's MeTV episode of MTM was the one where Ted and Georgette both dress in tuxedoes for the Teddy Awards ceremony. Georgette says, "I think we look like the top of a gay wedding cake!"

That seems awfully progressive for 1976!

by Anonymous

reply 75

02/23/2013

It didn't stop my career. And now I am the matriarch of the show!

by Anonymous

reply 76

02/23/2013

The latest Proactive commercial is filled with women just dripping with little girl voices. And some of them end each sentence with a question mark. It burns my ears.

by Anonymous

reply 77

02/23/2013

Christina Hendricks puts on a voice like this and it sounds so funny on a fat woman.

by Anonymous

reply 78

03/22/2014

No idea what you're talking about

by Anonymous

reply 79

03/22/2014

[quote]That seems awfully progressive for 1976!

Before the Reagan era started there were a lot of sitcom episodes that dealt with gay characters or themes sympathetically and in good humor.

by Anonymous

reply 80

03/22/2014

It's post-feminist!

by Anonymous

reply 81

03/22/2014

My kindergarten teacher had a little girl voice and most of the kids loved her because of that. I knew her outside of school because her son played on sports teams with my older brother. I would see her at games all the time and I do remember people making fun of her voice behind her back.

by Anonymous

reply 82

03/22/2014

Hey, Poodle!

by Anonymous

reply 83

03/22/2014

Agree with R62, I don't mind it on Jennifer Tilley or Ellen Greene. On "real" people, it's obnoxious.

by Anonymous

reply 84

03/22/2014

R57, I rarely listened to Loveline but once I heard a young woman call in. She was talking normally and then suddenly the little girl voice popped out. Dr. Drew immediately interrupted her and asked her if she had been molested. She said, "Yes." He said, "Were you 6?" She said, "Yes." Creepy. I hadn't realized the connection between the two.

by Anonymous

reply 85

03/22/2014

It's very creepy. I was in a small coffee shop reading last week and was distracted by the sound of a little girl talking. I looked up but there was no child in the coffee, only a grown-up woman talking to her friend in a baby doll voice.

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